


The Perfect Present

by Lesbian_Valkyrie



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: But mostly fluff, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Fluff, With a side of self doubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28063866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lesbian_Valkyrie/pseuds/Lesbian_Valkyrie
Summary: It's Buffy and Faith's first Christmas together, but Faith has no idea what to get for Buffy.
Relationships: Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	The Perfect Present

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I haven't abandoned my other story, I just really wanted to write a cute holiday oneshot. I know this isn't my best work, but I needed to get back into writing. Enjoy and happy holidays!

Faith hated Christmas. She always had, and she likely always would. When she was growing up, Christmas was nothing but a reminder of the happy family experience that she was missing out on. The cheeriness, the decorations, the gifts and celebrations that she was never a part of. All the other kids would talk about the cool toys and presents that Santa had brought them, caught up in the magic of the season. But Faith always knew better than to believe in Santa. She had written a letter to him one year, just to see if maybe he wouldn’t skip her this time. It was pointless though. Santa never did stop by the Lehane’s.

It was Christmas Eve that her father had left. Faith was 9 years old when he walked out on her and her Ma, never to be heard from again. Every year after that, her mother would get blackout drunk on Christmas Eve, never leaving her bed on Christmas day. As the years passed, Faith would come home to find her mother passed out, whiskey bottle in hand, more and more frequently. But it was always worst around the holidays. So for Faith, the season had lost all magic, serving only as a reminder that she had grown up far too quickly.

The first Christmas that Faith spent outside of Boston was the one spent in Sunnydale. It was much warmer that year, for sure. Faith had been invited to spend Christmas Eve with Buffy and Joyce, and though she knew Joyce had forced the invitation, it was a nice gesture either way. Of course, Buffy had left almost immediately, chasing after Angel once again. Even so, Faith had a good time with Joyce, who so much acted like the mother she had always wished she had growing up. That year, the holidays seemed only slightly cheerier.

The next time Christmas rolled around, Faith was 6 months into her coma. She was plenty happy to miss the holiday season, seeing as she would’ve been alone either way.

For the next 3 Christmases, Faith was in prison. Sure, some of the inmates celebrated, but Faith always opted to be alone on Christmas. To be fair, she was generally alone. But while other people got visits and packages from family, Faith sat alone in her cell, hating all the joy that she’d never had.

This Christmas would be different though. This year, she belonged somewhere. After Sunnydale, the scoobies had quickly set up camp in England, opening a school for all the new slayers. This year, Faith would be surrounded by friends who were basically family. And Buffy. She and Buffy had only been together for 3 months, but they had been the best 3 months of Faith’s life. She had finally _finally_ gotten with the girl she had been in love with since she was 17. And the girl loved her back. Though they had only officially been together for 3 months, they had been in love with each other ages longer.

Which was part of the problem. The problem being that Faith had no clue what to get her girlfriend for Christmas. She knew it had to be good, thoughtful, amazing. Her present to Buffy just had to be perfect. Faith was far from the perfect partner, she knew this. And she also knew that she couldn’t dare mess up Buffy’s Christmas gift for their first Christmas together.

Christmas was in 2 days, and Faith was feeling the pressure. She had already gotten presents for everyone else. Everyone but Buffy. And she was completely clueless as to what to get her. So naturally, she turned to the person who would know.

“Hey Willow, can I talk to you a minute?” 

Willow looked up from the spellbook she had been looking over before Faith wandered into her room. “Sure Faith, what’s up?”

“It’s Buffy.”

“Oh, are you two fighting? Cause I talked to her not that long ago and she didn’t say anything.”

“What, no. Why do you always assume we’re fighting?”

Willow shrugged. 

“Anyway, I need your help. I don’t know what to get Buffy for Christmas.”

The witch grimaced. “Faith, Christmas is in two days. I would’ve thought you’d be done with presents by now.”

“Don’t judge me! I am done with presents. For everyone except Buffy. And I need her gift to be really good because it’s our first Christmas together and the first since Sunnydale. I can’t screw this up, but I’m stuck.”

“You know Buffy isn’t going to care what you get her. She’s only going to care that it’s from you. Don’t worry about screwing up. That girl is head over heels for you.”

“Ok but I just want her to be happy! Come to the store with me please?” Faith pulled her best begging face, complete with a pouty lip. It had nothing on Buffy’s pouty face, but it was enough to convince Willow.

“Give me 20 minutes,” Willow sighed, rolling her eyes.

Faith grinned. “Thanks, Red.”

A few hours later, Faith, Willow, and Dawn found themselves wandering around the mall. Dawn, realizing they were going shopping, had insisted on coming too. The younger Summers would never pass up on a mall trip. They had been in and out of a bunch of shops already, with no luck. Faith had wanted to come up with something on her own, but clearly, she needed more inspiration.

“Dawn, what did you get Buffy?” Faith asked.

“Oooo I got her this cute jacket that we saw a couple weeks ago! I didn’t steal it this time. We could go to that store if you want?”

“Nah, that’s alright. Just need ideas,” Faith answered.

“I got Buffy a pretty bracelet that I thought she’d like,” Willow chimed in.

“Well, what’d you get for Ken?”

“A fancy crossbow, because she hates the ones that we have at the school, and she wanted her own.”

Faith groaned. “That’s no good. B’s already got a ton of weapons, and I know she doesn’t need more jewelry or clothes because that’s what everyone else would give her. I want to get her something special!”

“Wow Faith, I’ve never seen you so worked up over such a little thing before. Buffy’s not even that cool,” Dawn laughed.

Faith glared at Dawn and stopped walking, the other girls stopping as well. “It’s not a little thing. Buffy’s gonna leave me, and I can’t have that happen because she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me! I’ve finally got a real shot with her, even after all that happened in our past. I can’t afford to mess this up,” she rambled.

Willow reached out and put a gentle hand on Faith’s shoulder. “Faith, look at me. Buffy loves you. I know it, and I know you know it. She is not going to leave you. Especially not over something like a Christmas present.”

Dawn, seeing how serious Faith was being, quickly softened up. “We’ve been here all afternoon, I think I’m starting to get kinda tired of the mall.”

“Hey, maybe you can make something for Buffy,” Willow suggested. “People like handmade gifts.”

Faith offered them a small smile and a nod. She knew she was being stupid, but she’d never been good at giving gifts. And now she finally had someone who she wanted to get a nice gift for. And those ever fleeting thoughts of Buffy leaving her were becoming more and more constant. She knew that the blonde loved her, even though she’d never actually said it. Not that Faith had said those three words directly to Buffy either. She couldn’t help those insecurities though. Because Faith had never loved or been loved before.

That night, Faith said she was heading to bed early. She showered, and as soon as everyone else began to settle into their nightly routines, she opened the top drawer of her dresser. She pulled out some craft supplies that one of the little slayers had lent her, and a picture that she had printed earlier.

The picture was of a smiling Buffy and Faith at the pumpkin patch. Faith was hugging Buffy from behind, arms around her waist. Buffy had her head tilted up to look at Faith, who was looking down at her, smiling wide. Buffy was laughing and tilting her head up, just a second away from kissing Faith. Faith grinned as she relived the memory. That picture had been taken in October, a little over a month after they’d gotten together. 

She took the stuff and sat on the floor next to her bed. Faith had no clue how to make a picture frame, but she had a bunch of colored wire, super glue, and some wood, so it couldn’t be too hard to figure out. She had never been crafty exactly, but how hard could it be to make a frame? She had done some of the typical drawings and sloppy crafts that everyone did in elementary school, but art had never particularly interested her.

Faith began by gluing the pieces of wood together to make what seemed to be a good size rectangle for a picture frame. She then began to mess with the wire, making little swirls and what were supposed to be flowers out of it. She even attempted to make some hearts. Only because it was for Buffy. Faith was so glad that she was doing this while everyone else was asleep. Because if anyone saw her bending colored wire into little hearts, her reputation as the scary slayer would be forever ruined. Ah, the things she’d do for Buffy.

Faith had been working on her craft for a while when she heard a gentle knock at her door. Judging by the sound of the knock, and the slight slayer tingles, Faith knew it was Buffy. Buffy wound up sleeping in Faith’s room more often than not these days. Faith had never thought herself the domestic or bed sharing type, but she secretly loved cuddling with her girlfriend before bed. She quickly brushed the wire, the picture, and all the crafting stuff under her bed, and then got up to open the door.

“B? What’s up? It’s late.”

“I...I couldn’t sleep. So I just came to see if you were still up, because I always sleep better when I’m with you, and then I saw your light was still on,” Buffy explained, blushing slightly.

Faith smiled and took her girlfriend into her arms, hugging her close. Buffy melted into the embrace, burying her head in the crook of Faith’s neck. Faith gently kissed the top of her head.

“Let’s get you to bed, babe,” Faith whispered. She then scooped Buffy into her arms, carrying her bridal style over to the bed.

“Faith!” Buffy yelped. She giggled as Faith lightly tossed her onto the bed.

Faith crawled under the covers beside Buffy. The gift could wait until tomorrow. She flicked off her light and scooted closer to Buffy, who nestled into her arms. Buffy angled her head slightly, giving Faith a light kiss on the lips.

“Goodnight, B,” Faith whispered, kissing Buffy again.

“Goodnight, Faith.”

When Faith woke up the next morning, it was to an overly excited Buffy shaking her awake. Overly excited seeing as it wasn’t even Christmas, only Christmas Eve. As soon as she realized that, Faith grimaced. Her present for Buffy still wasn’t done, and she’d probably need at least an hour to finish it. But knowing Buffy and her Christmas excitement, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to find that time. If only she’d just been able to find something at the mall yesterday. But she was there for hours with no luck.

Christmas Eve was spent decorating cookies (or eating the piping hot ones fresh out of the oven and burning her mouth in Faith’s case), watching movies, and making out with Buffy under the mistletoe until Kennedy yelled at them to get a room. But as it drew into the afternoon, Faith was getting increasingly anxious.

She managed to pull Dawn aside in the middle of gingerbread house construction and got her to keep Buffy distracted for a while with one of those sappy Lifetime holiday movies that Faith couldn’t stand. So Faith snuck back up to her room to finish her present.

Her presents for everyone else were wrapped and ready to go, but when it came to Buffy’s, Faith was getting increasingly frustrated. The wire wasn’t staying in place, and everything was looking far sloppier than intended. After accidentally snapping the wire with her slayer strength for the 50th time, Faith was completely fed up. She threw the frame against the wall, causing it to splinter into pieces. She buried her head in her hands, surrounded by bits of wire and wood, the happy picture of her and Buffy sitting on the floor next to her mockingly.

A moment later, there was a knock at her door.

“Faith, are you alright in there?” It was Willow. “We heard a crash.”

“I’m fine,” Faith called back, a slight waver in her voice.

“Can I come in?”

Faith sighed, which Willow apparently took as a yes.

“Oh no! Faith, what happened?” Willow asked, closing the door behind her.

“Don’t know my own strength apparently. Crafts never were my strong suit. Any chance you wanna magic it back together, cause my deadline is coming up pretty fast.”

Willow looked around at the mess of crafting supplies all over the room. “Erm, well, I could. If I knew what it was…”

Faith groaned. “Well, it was a picture frame.” She handed Willow the picture of her and Buffy.

“Aww, that’s such a sweet idea. This picture is adorable!”

Suddenly, Faith was hit with an idea. “Will, come to the mall with me! Please please please please-”

“But we were at the mall all afternoon yesterday.”

“Yeah, but now I’ve got an idea! Plus Dawn has Buffy watching Lifetime movies.”

“Oh yeah, I did hear them downstairs. A handful of the slayers got roped in too. It’s a sob-fest down there.”

“Perfect! Don’t you want to escape that?”

Willow smiled and begrudgingly allowed Faith to drag her to the mall once again.

The next morning, Faith was once again shaken awake by a very enthusiastic blonde slayer.

“Faith! Faith! It’s Christmas!”

“Geez B, I know. But that doesn’t mean you have to scream in my ear at 6:30,” Faith groaned.

“Come on, just get up! Presents!”

Faith smiled and pulled her girlfriend down for a kiss. Buffy stopped her squirming for a moment to allow herself to kiss Faith softly. Of course, the peace only lasted for a minute before Buffy pulled back and yanked the covers off of Faith.

“Hey!”

Buffy just smiled sweetly and tugged Faith downstairs.

Apparently, Christmas meant everyone was downstairs and around the tree by 7:30, which was far too early for Faith’s tastes. She and Buffy were cuddled under a blanket on the sofa, Faith nursing a cup of coffee. Buffy, on the other hand, had no need for caffeine, seeing as she was barely able to sit still. Willow, Kennedy, Xander, Dawn, Giles, Andrew, and the handful of other slayers who had stayed for the holidays, were all situated in various positions on the couches, chairs, and floor around the tree. Presents were joyfully being passed around and opened. Willow had made sure that everyone who was staying had at least a few things to open, so even the few slayers were happily opening gifts amongst themselves.

Faith had received some comics from Xander, a pair of boots from Willow, a desk organizer from Giles (who was constantly complaining that her office was a mess), a funky looking knife from Dawn, and a tin of cookies from Andrew (which were devoured within the hour). She and Buffy had decided to exchange gifts privately later. But really, Faith couldn’t have asked for anything else. She had gotten more presents this Christmas than ever before. Not to mention the person she loved who was right by her side.

Buffy though, seemed anxious to give Faith her gift. Almost as soon as the presents were all opened, Faith was dragged out of the room and into Buffy’s office. Faith watched as the blonde pulled a box out from under her desk. Faith pulled out Buffy’s present too, which had been safely tucked in her pocket all morning.

“I’m going first,” Buffy declared. She handed Faith her present, and Faith gave Buffy hers to hold.

Faith unwrapped the paper and opened the box to find a gorgeous leather jacket, very similar to the one she’d had back in Sunnydale. Faith grinned as she stroked the leather.

“B, this is…”

“I know you refused to buy yourself a new one because you said it was too pricey, but it is winter now and you needed a jacket. That’s not to say I won’t steal it from time to time,” Buffy explained.

“This is too much. I mean, it’s far too nice a present. I can’t accept this.”

“I bought it for me as much as I did for you, so you’d better take it because I want to wear it and I want it to smell like you.”

“I suppose I can’t argue with that. Thank you.” Faith took the jacket out of the box and put it on. She kissed Buffy lightly.

Faith took a deep breath. “Your turn, B.” She watched as Buffy carefully unwrapped the present.

She began to tear up when she saw what was in the box. It was a locket, shaped like a heart, the initials B+F etched onto it. She opened the locket to see a tiny version of the picture of them at the pumpkin patch.

“Faith I… it’s so pretty,” Buffy managed to say through the giant smile on her face as she put on the locket.

“I wasn’t gonna get you jewelry, just seemed too boring. But I spent hours at the mall with Dawnie and Red, and then I tried to make you something, but then I remembered these pretty lockets that I saw that you could get inscribed and I’m just lucky that they were able to do it on such short notice-” Faith’s rambling was interrupted by Buffy’s lips being pressed against hers.

“Faith, baby, you talk too much. You ramble worse than Willow when you get nervous. It’s sweet,” Buffy said after pulling away.

“I just wanted your gift to be perfect,” Faith explained.

“It is. You’re perfect. I love you, Faith.”

A giant smile crept over Faith’s face, and she was helpless to stop it. So instead, she wrapped Buffy in a giant hug, which Buffy returned wholeheartedly.

“I love you too, Buffy.”

The two slayers settled in the armchair in the corner of the office, Buffy in Faith’s lap. They cuddled as close as they could get, not wanting any space between them. They stayed there for a while, cuddling and kissing and whispering to one another that they loved them. Faith had no idea how much she had needed that. She knew Buffy loved her. She could see it all over her face, and feel it in every touch. But it was another thing to hear it, and to say it back. Faith allowed herself to simply bask in the glow of Buffy’s love. Which is what made her ask the next question.

“Hey B, would you maybe want to just move your stuff to my room? You sleep there most nights anyway, and truth be told I always sleep better when you do.”

Buffy grinned and nodded. “I was hoping you’d ask. I know it’s only been a couple months, but god Faith, I love you so much. And I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep in your arms at night.”

“I love you too. And I would like that very much.”

Buffy leaned over to kiss Faith again. Their kissing quickly grew more passionate, and hands began to wander. But before they got any further, there was a knock at the door.

“I’m not opening this door in case you two happen to be naked,” Dawn called out. “But it’s almost time for lunch, so hurry up because you’ve been in there for an hour now.”

“We’ll be right there,” Buffy called back.

“We can finish that later,” Faith whispered to Buffy, who just gave her a flirty smile in return.

That night, Buffy and Faith laid together, bare skin on bare skin, in what was now their bed. Buffy had dozed off in Faith’s arms. Faith looked down at the sleeping blonde and couldn’t help but smile. A wave of panic washed over her when she realized that Buffy’s birthday was in January and she’d have to come up with another gift, but the panic faded fast. Buffy loved her. And she loved Buffy. That was all that really mattered. And for the first time in her life, Faith thought she might actually like Christmas.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays to everyone! Wishing you all a fun and safe holiday season :)


End file.
